


Just watching some past and futures

by orphan_account



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-20
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-08-04 16:16:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16349930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Short video clips make their way into Stark tower. Problem number one: they're from another dimension. Problem number two? They show the future of the Avengers. Someone is giving them a chance to change their future. It's just that the Avengers keep making the wrong choices. Watch to find out how their reactions change the future, for better or for worse.* An Avengers watch their own movies story, but not only limited to movies.*Cross-posted on Fanfiction.net





	1. Prolouge

**Author's Note:**

> *Currently cross-posting.

 

In 2012, Loki is defeated, and the Avengers are enjoying their well-earned rest.

In 2018, Thanos gets hold of all the infinity stones, proceeding to wipe out half the universe.

In 2012, the tesseract shifts.

In 2018, everything is silent, everything is frozen.

In a world time doesn't mean anything anymore, nobody notices while universes rearrange themselves.

In 2012, in the universe we call the MCU, J.A.R.V.I.S notices an anomaly.

ㅡ

" So, you woke us up in the middle of the night, telling it was urgent- and now you're telling us we didn't need to suit up?"

It was four A.M, and the original Avengers were gathered in a room in Avengers tower. Thor was scheduled to leave with Loki in the morning- and nobody was pleased at the idea they now had to stay up until seven, or risk oversleeping.

" Unlike you Stark, - Hawkeye continued- Some of us actually _need_ sleep to function properly. If you have another valid emergency-"

"- We highly recommend that you say it quickly." finished Natasha, glaring at Tony with eyes half-closed. Usually, she would be comfortable with being woken up at any given time for a mission. However, they had just fought a freking alien army in New York, and this wasn't a mission, nor was Stark S.H.I.E.L.D.

Tony eyed the widow nervously, and then finally started to talk. " Okaay.. then. Let's go straight to the point. Jarvis found something."

" And?" prompted Natasha, raising an eyebrow.

" I don't know what it is... yet.. yet! I can find out in a few momemts!" Tony quickly added when he saw Natasha. " I swear- this looks important."

" Important enough to wake us up in the middle of the night?" said Clint, yawing as he said the last word.

" Uh, yes? That's probably why I actually did do that? Anyway- continued Tony, ignoring Clints' grumbles saying he wouldn't put it past Tony to wake them up for something unimportant- I'll let Jarvis explain the rest."

" Thank you, sir. Although I also do have doubts of the necessity of waking up the other Avengers- "

There was a 'hey!' from Tony, and a round of glares from the rest.

"- twenty minutes ago, my system picked up indistinguishable signals. Further investigation proved that the signals were beyond this world, as unbelievable as the notion might seem. "

There was a blank look from from the rest of the Avengers, and there was a long silence before Steve finally broke it.

" ...as interesting this information might seem to you, I highly doubt that counts as an emergency."

" It's a signal! from another universe! How can this not be urgent? This here- he pointed to a black screen- might be blank now, bit with just the right frequency-"

"So, you're not certain. And you woke us up- clint growled as he slammed his hand on a holographic keyboard- at 5 A.M. for..."

but nobody got to hear the rest of that sentence, because the screen suddenly came to life, flashing 'incoming signal' to the dumbstruck Avengers.

" That was.. convenient." said Tony, who had tried for three hours to find the right frequency.

They all stared at the loading screen. Thor, who didn't have any concept of how Midgardian technology worked, but somehow knowlegeable about diffrent dimensions, wached somewhat anxiously at the screen. This could turn out to be anything.. A evil version of themselves, a world where the worst of villains have prevailed..

After what seemed like hours, the screen lit up again to reveal..

"Uh.. what?"

It was some kind of.. movie streaming site. It wasn't in English, but there was a tiny poster next to a payment button.

" Well that was anticlimatic." said Bruce after another long silence." If hacking some guy's computer is all there is I suggest that we all go to.. "

"Wait. look at the poster..." susurprisingly, it was Natasha who noticed it first. Without waiting for anyone to react, she asked Jarvis for a translation. And that's when the penny dropped.

_**Avengers 3: Infinity war** _

Their picture in the poster, the more than obvious title.

_It's a movie about us- our future._

And for the third time that morning, everyone went silent.


	2. The Cliffhanger

   

 

Meanwhlie, a teenage girl who was compleatly unaware of all this happening, was having a hard time deciding whether she should buy the Avengers: Infinity War vod right away, or make the sensible decision of buying it when prices went down. Spending 10.9 $ for three minutes of Loki really didn't seem worth it.. Maybe she would do it for he other favorites, but it wasn't like they had thst much screen time either.. That was when she noticed there was a three minute preveiw. 'Okay,- she told herself- if this shows enough Loki, I'll buy it later'

and she clicked the play button.

ㅡ

Back in the MCU, there was a flurry of action. Natasha tried to call shield, Tony was trying to stop her, Clint was still refusing to believe that this was real- even if it was that didn't necessarily mean that it was _their_ future, wasn't it?

Thor was stressing that they should break the connection, or at least take it to Asgard. Terrible things have happened to people who had tempted fate, and even knowing the future could have disastrous effects!

Steve was having conflicting feelings. He was already living in the future, and there were things he would love to change if he could go back. Knowing the future _could_ give them a chance to make it better, to not make choices they would deeply regret- On the other hand, what if they made it worse? What if-

his train of thought was inturrupted by the lights suddenly being turned off by Bruce, who had been trying to sneak away. And right at that moment - in that other universe- the teenage girl pressed play.

**[MARVEL] opening starts**

**Ominous music starts playing**

The Avengers were still fighting over what to do, albeit the commotion dying down a bit, because contrary to what they all claimed, they couldn't erase that tiny bit of curiosity they all had.

**Voice: This is the Asgardian refugee vessel...**

...And that made eveyone _refugee ship?_ For what reason would Asgard- the strongest of the nine realms- need an refugee ship for? Thor quickly glanced at the other Avengers, and he could tell that they were thinking more or less the same thing.

**[MARVEL] logo shows with a red background.**

**Voice: We are under assault, I repeat- we are under assault! Engines are dead, life support failing.**

And now they were being attacked. Wasn't Asgard supposed to be one of the strongest in the galaxy? If there was a force that could overthrow them- it would also be a very big threat to earth.. Natasha loosened her grip on Tony's arm and then turned to the screen, determimed to soak in every detail.

**The background of the logo turns black.**

**Voice: We are at 22 jump points from Asgard...**

**Thanos' ship is shooting blue rays at Asgard's vessel.**

Everyone was now standing to face the screen. Nobody talked, nobody moved, averting their full concentration to what was flashing in front of them.

**Voice: Our crew make up Asgardian families- we have very few soilders here! This is not a warcraft, I repeat- this is NOT a warcraft!**

**The scene changes to inside the vessel, fire and fallen bodies everywhere. The screen shows** **_Ebony Maw_ ** **'s foot walking among them.**

Why were there 'very few' soldiers? Asgard was mostly made out of soldiers, and even those who didn't see battle as their vocation had at least basic military training.. the knowledge that someone could succesfully massacre a entire ship of them was.. frightning to say the least. Thor could feel his face darkening with every moment, actually scared of what comes next.

**Ebony Maw: Hear me, and rejoice!**

**A fallen warrior tries to reach out to** **_Ebony Maw_ ** **, but only succeds to make gagging noises before lowering his arm again.**

Rejoice..? Tony could feel his mood instantly changing from shock to petulance. Were all extraterrestrial villains rigged with crazy, twisted thoughts about.. things?

**Ebony Maw: You have had the privilege of being saved by the great titan. You may think this is suffering. No- this is salvation.**

_So he isn't talking about himself.._ speculated Natasha. _It's usally the followers that glorify the main guy._ She bit her lip, not enough for anyone to notice. That the idea ' death is salvation ' had followers at all was a terrifying thought. What if this was actually a big organization? It probably was, seeing as they could easily overpower Asgardians.. This could make hydra look like a couple of teenagers trying to act tough... Natasha could feel her brow creasing deeper and deeper at every moment. _If this really is the future_ , she thought , _I'm sure not looking forward to it._

**Zooms in to** _**Ebony Maw's** _ **face**

**Ebony** **Maw: The universal scales tip towards balance because of your sacrifice.**

_Twisted thoughts._ Clint clenched his teeth, strong enough for it to hurt. This reminded him too much about Loki's septer, when he actually _believed_ that Loki's ideas about world domination. And there was also something familiar about all this, something that wasn't Loki, something that had came and went into his mind, something he couldn't quite remember...

**Zooms out to reveal** **five figures,** ** _Loki_** **standing between a large figure and** ** _Ebony maw._** **The blurry sillioute of** ** _Thanos_** **is seen in front of them.**

Oh, so Loki _was_ there. Standing against his own planet, the very people he claimed superior? _Wouldn't put that past him_ thought Clint, clenching his teeth harder. _That motherf* sorry excuse of a.._

Thor's face grew even darker. Was Loki really standing against their people? Betraying the last link he had to them?

**Ebony Maw: Smile, for even in death, you are the children of Thanos.**

**_Ebony Maw_ ** **turns his gaze to** **_Loki,_ ** **who turs his head to face** _**Thanos.** _

couldn't read his brother, at least not yet, but he could sense those little things, _and hopefully_ , he thought, _I will be able to read the important ones._

The rest of the Avengers too noticed that something was wrong. Well, it was quite obvious when they showed Asgard burning, but what they noticed was Loki. Everyone exept the science bros were trained soldiers or spies- and they _noticed_ things.

_The real question is,_ thought Steve , _If that's Loki, where's Thor?_

**Thanos: I know what it is like to lose. To feel so desperatly that you're right- yet to fail nonetheless.**

_**Thanos** _ **picks up a body from the ground who immediately protests.**

" Wait.. is that..?" said Tony, with a very obvious shocked look on his face. He tured to see the looks on the others, and he could see that _yes, they had noticed._ Tony shot a last glance at Thor, who seemed to be taking this calmly- at least, he hadn't broken anything yet. But maybe that was because his eyes were transfixed at the screen...

**Thanos: It's frightening. Turns the legs to jelly.**

**_Thanos_ ** **steps closer to** **_Loki_ ** **, dragging** **_Thor_ ** **with him.**

Bruce silently avoided his eyes. He didn't understand what was going on- but he really didn't want to see _that_.

**Thanos: I ask you to what end- dread it, run from it, destiny arrives all the same. And now it's here, or should I say...**

**_Thanos_ ** **curls his left hand into a fist, flashing the gauntlet and the power stone to** **_Loki._ **

**Thanos: ... I am..**

**Zooms into** **_Thor_ ** **, who is struggling to break free of** **_Thanos' grasp._ **

**Thor: .. You talk.. too** **much...**

Tony let out a hollow laugh. " Gotten sassy, haven't you- " It was an attemt to let loose all this tension, but you really couldn't do that if you were stressed yourself...

**zooms into** **_Loki_ ** **staring right at** **_Thanos._ **

**Thanos: The Tesseract or your brother's head-**

And the Video ended there.

The sceeen changed back to the payment screen. The teenage girl, who was hoping to see Loki's fidelity speech, bought the VOD. The screen now read _**2 days,22 hours until realease.**_ The unnamed girl turned off her phone, and went to bed.

The Avengers, meanwhile, were hosting their longest silence that morining. Nobody spoke. Nobody moved. Some of them had given up thinking. Some of them were still processing what they had just seen. Some of them had a million thoughts going through their heads.

surprisingly, it was Clint and Nat who broke the silence.

A "That's it?!" from Clint and a

" What now" came from Natasha.

They spoke at nearly the same time, then looked at each other, surprised.

Tony let out a long sigh, collapsed on a nearby couch, then looked at his teammates before saying anything. In the end, all he could say was this: 

" It's going to be a _long_ day. "


	3. Risks

  


And long day it was. In the end, the all agreed to call Shield, if not a little grudgingly. Shield hadn't hesitated to send agents the moment it got contact. They only had three or four hours until Thor had to take Loki to Asgard, or risk the ' high ups' taking control of Loki, and more importantly- the tesseract.

As moving the connection to a 'more secure place' proved impossible (the connection broke every time they tried to move it.

) the security of Stark, well now Avengers tower was strengthened. As it already had great security par the broken window they still hadn't got around to fixing, it now resembled a digital fortress.

After a lot of arguing, they had let Tony keep the connection and allowed him full access, although Tony highly suspected it was because they had no way of stopping him.

Finally- at six A.M, Shield let them be, taking a copy of the three minute video clip with them. In normal circunstances, most of the Avengers would be burned out by now, but everyone stayed alert, not really saying more than necessary during their session with Shield. They stared at each other before Natasha opened her mouth, asking the question they all had in their heads. "So, do you think that was really our future?"

"Well,- said Tony- if it isn't, it's at least a version of possible future events. Probably one of the most likely you accept the fact that our life is nothing more than a bunch of movies in another dimension, you can clearly see that we would actually be quite similar. If this was an alternate dimension with other versions of us- "

" - then in that case, there would be significant differences. An alternate dimension is usally created in the process of making choices, each chioce splitting out to form diffrnet realities." It was Thor who endend Tony's explanation, and Tony looked at him,bewildered. Since when was he an expert in alternate dimensions?

" Y..yeah.. that is.. that's actually right. But this, this is diffrent. This is really quite _a lot_ more than a parellel universe. Our life is a movie where this signal- he pointed at the screen- comes from, and we're probably watching something 'real' from theirs. The details might be diffrent, most of it, if not all of it, _would be_ accurate."

"Then, we should be ready for it. I know about this ' perish if you try to tempt fate' thing, but really, I don't see how this can get any worse." Said Clint.

"Try to avoid fate, you only end up ensuring it. The best recourse we have is to only acknowledge that there is a threat, and find out about the threat ourselves, not rely on this.. prophecy." Thor replied with a stern look on his face. The less prophecies, the better.

" Strange, I think I remember the purple guy saying that. Maybe that _is_ what he wants. Us being kept in the dark. Not knowing what's going to hit until it finally does." Natasha paused for a moment,and pushed just the right tone of confusion before continuing. " Shouldn't you be the one who's most desprate to see this? It's _your_ people, after all. What could be more important for you then the welfare of your people?"

Thor opened his mouth, then closed it again. Natasha had a point. As the crown prince of Asgard, nothing should come in front of that priority.. exept maybe..

"If the future is ruined because of what we do, our people will perish along with it. Terrible things have happened to people who had tempted fate- I do not wish to be the next person to fall for fate's mischief. "

" But isn't this your only choice? From what we just saw- "

" Even if knowing the future will save my people, I refuse to let the rest of the Universe pay the price of our survival." Thor answered solemnly to Natasha's protests.

"Well, maybe we should listen to Thor." Steve chimed in. " When I can't claim to be an expert, isn't this the kind of thing that causes butterfly effects throughout time? All we know right now is that Asgard is attacked, and if Thor's not going to risk it, neither should we." Steve took a deep breath before continuing. " This kind of information is dangerous. It could influence our actions, twist us into something that's not really _us._ " The captain paused again, then opened his mouth. " I say we break the connection."

There was a round of nods, and Tony stood up,sighing. He really didn't want to see anything anything else either. After seeing the first film, he realised he had been taking this far too lightly. And if Thor was against it, he really couldn't find a reason to protest.

Natasha hesitated before nodding her head. She guessed that if Thor was _that_ against it, she could always lie to shield that the connection was naturally lost. Her curiosity couldn't be more important than the universe.

Bruce, who hadn't wanted to see this in the first place, of course nodded.

Clint was curious, but not _that_ curious. If the only thing at stake was Asgard, and their crown prince didn't want to risk it, well- neither should they.

Tony almost finished breaking the connection. _Some things,_ he thought, _are better off not knowing._

And the future would have been lost to them, If not for the screen coming to life and displaying yet another video.

Everyone froze again. So maybe they could master thier curiosity when the object of temptation was not in immediate grabbing distance, but now, when it was right in front of them- Well, they could only say that curiosity got the better of them.

Tony stopped what he was doing and turned off the lights. The Avengers, as if in agreement, all sat down in one of the chairs that were strewn across the floor from Shield's visit.

In the alternate universe, the teenage girl pressed play to re-watch the Infinity War trailer  


	4. The trailer

 

**Gamora(V.O): The entire time I knew him, he only ever had one goal.**

**Shows** _**Natasha, Bruce , and War machine** _ **looking up.**

_Nat goes blonde_? thought Clint. _That's new._

**Gamora(V.O): To wipe out half the Universe.**

**Shows window of 177A Bleaker** **street(New York sanctum)**

Okay.. _WHAT?_ Why would anyone want to do that? All the Avengers watched in shock and disbelief. But the screen changed to quickly for them to ponder on it any further.

**Gamora(V.O): If he gets all the infinity stones** ,

**Shows** _**Thanos** _ **adding the power stone to his gauntlet.**

**Gamora(V.O): He can do it with a snap of his fingers**.

**Scene changes to Gamora snapping her fingers**

**Gamora : Just like that**

The Avengers' shock was only intensified. There are things that allows a person to kill half the universe? _What kind of person_ would have invented such a thing? Tony thought.

Thor, who already knew about the infinity stones, was no less idea that somebody could wield all of the infinity stones was absurd, and this Titan already had two of them..

**Tony: Tell me his name again.**

**Gamora: Thanos.**

_Okay, so we have a name and_ thought, making a mental profille of everything concerning this newfound threat.

**_Thanos_ ** **takes his helmet on, and the [Marvel] logo shows.** **_Spiderman_ ** **hangs from a school bus, wearing his mask. He then swings off the bridge, skimmimg the water.**

_A school bus? Was that a kid? Was he some kind of wannabe hero?_ Thought Steve. But the scenes were changing too quickly for any of them to focus on anything.

**Tony(V.O): We have one advantage.**

_**Ironman** _ **uses his boosters to catch up with the Q-ship.**

**Tony(V.O): We have what Thanos wants.**

**_Wanda_ ** **turns her head to look at** _**Vision.** _

_The Infinity Stones.._ so that's what it was. _literally a stone.. stones._ Bruce mind wandered off for a moment, making him miss the next few seconds.

**Tony(V.O): So that's what we use.**

**_Natasha_ ** **and** **_Steve_ ** **walk towards** _**T'challa** _ **, who shakes hands with** **_Steve_ ** **.** _**Shuri** _ **progects a hologram of the mind stone on her hand.**

_The prince of Wakanda-_ noted Natasha. _Weren't they supposed to be one of the poorest countries in the world?_

_Holographic technology-_ Tony frowned. He was one of the very few people who had it in the world, and that girl was using it as if it were perfectly natural.. even if that was the future, something seemed a little off.

**The scene changes to** **_Peter Quill_ ** **and** **_Gamora_ ** **walking out of a spaceship. The screen fades to black, then shows** **_Peter Q_ ** **and** **_Tony_ ** **facing each other.**

**Peter Q: So let's talk about** **this plan of yours. I think it's good, exept it sucks.**

"Wow." chuckled Clint. Somebody that could over - too much talk Tony. At least there was one thing to look forward to.

**Camera turns to Peter P,** **who looks at Peter Q in disbelief.**

Wait.. wait. That _was_ a kid! very possibly the same one from earlier! Tony had too many questions by now to fully ccomcentrate.

**Peter Q: So let me do the plan, and tha way, it might be really good.**

**_Drax_ ** ***looks* at the two.**

**Tony: Wow.**

That made everyone chuckle. _Well,_ thought Steve, _this isn't as bad as we feared._ If this was really a movie in another world, Steve reckoned, it wouldn't be much of a movie if we lost, and half the universe is killed.

**Aprill 27**

**The Wakanda army rushes to the borders, hulkbuster and** **_Falcon_ ** **flying behind. Close up to Steve and T'challa togheter, then turn to Natasha.**

" But seriously, what's up? You're blonde and you have a beard- that's a serious change in character!" joked Tony. Everyone was feeling more relaxed by now. Steve rolled his eyes, and Natasha threw a nearby paperweight - ' Why do I even have a paperweight?' - at Tony.

**The scene changes to** **_Thor's_ ** **cape billowing**

**Thanos(V.O): The end is near**

**Screen turns** **_from Rocket_ ** **staring to** **_Thor_ ** **aming stormbreaker at the sky, which shoots lighting at every direction.** **_Groot_ ** **shields his eyes from the light.**

" Cool." remarked Clint.

**Cut to the Q-ship crashing into Titan**

**Thanos(V.O): When I'm done,**

**_Thanos_ ** **and** **_young Gamora_ ** **walking between a path of soldiers with thier backs to** **_Thanos_ ** **and** _**young Gamora** _ **on Zehoberi.**

Was that the green lady from the beginning? Or maybe from the same planet? How many more alien species were there?

**Thanos(V.O): Half of humanity will still be alive.**

**Shows** ** _Thor_** **screaming in** ** _Thanos'_** **grip, while** ** _Loki_** **and the** ** _Black order_** **stands watching to** ** _Thanos_** **breaking the** **tesseract.**

Everyone's smiles instantly dropped, mood changing from light to dark in a matter of seconds.

_So did this mean Loki handed over the tesseract to save Thor? Or did Loki join this Thanos guy and betray Thor?_ The second idea seemed more likely to Natasha. It did nothing to lift her mood.

Thor meanwhile, felt the tiniest of hope glimmering inside of him. He didn't want the tesseract falling in to Thanos' hands, Loki handed it over to Thanos to save him. _So there is a chance of good in him._ Thor thought.

**The blue light that comes from it covers the screen, and shows** **_Bucky Barns_ ** **readying his gun when the light fades.**

"Bucky!?" shouted Steve, standing up in his seat, causing the others to stare. Steve only stared at the screen in shock.

**Turn to** **_Steve_ ** **clutching his new shield, and** **_T'challa_ ** **activating his helmet. They watch as the monsters attack Wakanda's force field.**

Steve notices that the others were still staring at him, so he sat down and shook his head. He'll just explain later.

**Thanos(V.O): Perfectly balanced-**

**makes footholds that** **_Starlord_ ** **jump on. Scene changes to** **_Starlord_ ** **with his mask on and aiming his gun at the camera.**

And now wizards exist. _What's next?_ Thought Clint. _Talking rocks?_

**_Wanda_ ** **jerks her head up, then the scene changes to** **_Dr. Strange_ ** **being tortured by** **_Ebony Maw_ ** **. He screams, and** **_Ebony Maw_ ** **puts his finger on his lips.**

Tony and Bruce winced. Although they didn't know this guy, that seemed painful.

**The scream is still in the background as** _**Falcon** _ **is shown flying to the border, and hulkbuster being overrun by the monsters.**

Steve turned extra attention to the was there somewhere..

**Thanos: I hope they remember you.**

**_Tony_ ** **is on the ground, head bowed, suit almost demolished.**

The Avengers' expressions even darkened. Tony was clutching his seat, trying to breathe steadily. Bruce noticed, and put a comforting hand on Tony's back.

The rest of the Avengers looked worriedly at the screen. _Too strong.._ thought Nat. If Thanos alone could demolish that suit, his army could.. well... do _that_ to the Asgardians.

**He looks up to see** ** _Thanos_** **in the air, charging right at him. The scene connects to** _ **Steve,**_ **who stops the** **gauntlet.**

Thor's expression displayed a look of obvious surprise. His turned his head to Steve, who along with the other Avengers was puzzled at Thor's reaction. Sure, this guy was strong- but was it _that_ surprising he could fend off an armored fist for a few seconds?

**The Avengers theme plays, the logo is shown, and finally the words**

_**Avengers: Infinity War** _

**is shown on screen.**

ㅡ

Not wanting to stay in ' the future room' longer then neccesary, the Avengers moved to a confrence room, asking Jarvis to notify them when another transmission was due.

"Okay, first things first- does 'Bucky' mean James Barnes? "Asked Tony.

Steve nodded. " I don't quite see how that's possible, but yes. That's Bucky." He spoke in such an positive tone, as if his friend who died about seventy years ago was a perfectly valid notion.

" He doesn't look like the pictures. Are you sure it's not somthing like a distant relative or something?" asked Natasha.

" Bucky doesn't- didn't have any that I know of. I'd know him anywhere- and _that's Bucky._ "

" Who is this Bucky you speak of? " asked Thor, who had been struggling to keep up with the conversation. Bruce mentally thanked Thor for asking, because he really didn't remember either.

" Sniper of the Howling Commandos, Cap's old team member. Dad might have mentioned him - about a few thousand times. " Tony said, not really trying to hide the bitterness in his voice. " But he died. End of story. "

" Well, Cap's _died_ seventy years ago- and now here he is. " Said Bruce. " The point is, this is the future. We can't decide what's impossible or not. "

" Okay, then to more important matters. Apparently there's a maniac out there who wants to kill half the Universe... With these.. " Tony turned the subject.

" Infinity stones. Thanos, which is apparently his name, is on the search for infinity stones to kill half the universe for some reason unknown. " Replied Natasha with a perfect briefing of the situation.

" Yeah, about that, what are Infinity stones? What weapon could wipe out the universe in a snap? Who made these? Maybe we can stop them being made? " Tony questioned, standing up and pacing around the room.

" You cannot." replied Thor, almost immediately. " The Infinity stones are not creations, it is said that before creation itself, there were six singularities. When the universe exploded into existence the remnants of these systems were forged into concentrated ingots... the Infinity Stones."

That brought a silence to the room.

"Okay.. then we should find them and.. destroy them?" Even as he said it, Clint had a feeling it would be impossible.

" That is also impossible. Destroying the Tesseract had proved impossible, though many had tried. " Replied Thor.

" Wait, wait. The Tesseract? That's an Infinity stone?" said Tony. " This suddenly feels a lot more real then when you described it. "

" So we can't stop it from being made, destroy it, and tracking it down seems like a bad idea. " Natasha said. " Then let's let the subject go for now untill we have a better idea. "

There was a nod from Clint and Bruce, and yet another interjection from Tony.

" Okay then, what about Wakanda? It's _supposed_ to be one of the poorest countries in the world- and it didn't really seem like that in this trailer. "

" Where?" asked Bruce. Him and Thor seemed like the only ones who didn't know. How was everyone so well informed?

" Where Cap's shield came from.. maybe what we saw is just a part of Waknada, somthing that's only allowed to a select few. " said Natasha. She had had the same quaere before coming to this conclusion.

"Yeah... " replied Tony, though still not convinced. Even with bibranium you needed a lot of time and money to properly use it, and even if it was the most expensive metal in the world, they only had a limited supply of it. He was deep in thought, and almost missed Bruce's question.

"Does anyone know who that wizard is? I can't remember where, but he looks familiar.. " His question was only met by five blank looks, and Tony opened his mouth as if to say something, but was inturruped by the cool voice of Jarvis.

" Sorry to inturrupt, but the 'future room' has another transmission in (2) minutes. "

The avengers looked at each other, then one by one, stood up and headed to see what the future had to offer. The debate about cutting the connection seemingly erased from everyone's heads. 


	5. Irondad

Meanwhlie, the teenage girl-

you know, I'm getting tired ' the teenage girl ' every time. So let's just call her.. uh.. Morgan.

Morgan was crying due to her seventh re-watch of Infinity War. Why she thought that was a good idea, she couldn't remember. She decided she now needed some therapy. That left her with two options: Ragnarok or Homecoming.

So Ragnarok or Homecoming? Ragnarok was great, but it really was a depressing situation for...you know who..Then again, Homecoming showed Peter and Tony who had well...been Infinity war'ed. So after pondering the two films, she finally decided to screw it and watch both of them. She had already bought Homecoming , so naturally, she turned it on.

ㅡ

The Avengers were once again gathered in the future room. Everyone was at least a little afraid of what was coming. There was now less than an hour left until Thor's departure.

**Happy: Take a look**

**Happy: It's pretty impressive,**

_**Happy** _ **is sitting in the driver's seat, with** **_Peter_ ** **in the backseat who is looking at the outside of the new Avengers HQ.**

" So, we're not using this place? Do we suddenly have to discard your plan to accord to the future or something? " said Clint, looking at Tony.

" Even if that is what's supposed to happen, I don't think we should. This is the future we're trying to prevent.. if we try to follow these films,

**Happy: they just finished remodeling the whole thing**

**The Avengers theme plays, showing the entire compound.** **_Peter_ ** **looks out the window in awe. Close up to the Avengers logo, then cut to** **_Peter_ ** **smiling.**

\- , we might end up just ensuring the future. " finished Tony.

" But there's always that ' what should we change and what we shouldn't. I really doubt that even your best computers can accurately predict the conceqences of every action,

**Show the Quinjet's reflection on the windows, then turn to** **_Peter_ ** **who is watching it from inside.** **_Happy_ ** **stands behind him.**

-, especially with segmented knowledge, so I say just shut up and start asking the questions we have a chance of answering, the first being- who's that kid? " said Natasha, and made everyone shut up and finally pay attention to the screen.

**Happy: You don't see that every day.**

**_Tony_ ** **walks behind them.**

**Tony:** **Oh there they are!**

**Tony:How was the ride out?**

**Happy: Good**

**Tony:Give me a minute with the kid.**

**Happy:seriously?**

**Tony: Yeah, I gotta talk to the kid.**

" Okay, whatever you're trying to do, don't try to be father-ey. Because that's going to turn out as the worst Irondad fiasco ever. " said Clint.

" Don't you worry Legolas. I'm just not tha fathering type. "

**Happy: I'll be close behind**

**Tony:How about a little loosely- boundaries are good.**

_**Tony** _ **punches** **_Peter_ ** **lightly in the chest, then wraps his arm around him, pulling him close.**

There was a collection of snorts around the room, and Tony rolled his eyes.

" Another question we should be asking, -started Clint- is what exactly is that relationship?"

" A father- son maybe? " added Bruce, earning a glare from Tony.

**Tony: Sorry I took the suit- I mean you had it coming...Actually it turned out to be the perfect tough love moment that you needed, right? To urge you to go on, right? Don't you think? Don't you think?**

**_Tony's_ ** **voice gets a little louder in the second ' don't you think'**

" Desperate." remarked Natasha, smirking.

" _Though Love moment?_ " said Clint, shooting a disbelieving look at Tony.

Even Bruce and Thor looked amused. Bruces mouth was twitching, only shrugging at Tony's glares.

Steve meanwhlie was trying not to laugh."I don't know Tony- that looks like a father- son to me. "

**Peter: er.. yeah.**

**_Tony_ ** **sighs.**

**Tony: Let's just say it was.**

That did it. Steve finally burst out laughing.

" Okay, so now I refuse to believe that's actually me. " said Tony, looking at the other Avengers. " There is no way I'll be that bad at talki-

**Peter: - I..**

**Tony: You screwed up, big time. But you did the right thing, took the dog to the clinic, raised the hybrid puppies- okay, let's not make these analogies.**

" Actually, that is exactly how you talk. " smirked Natasha. " I think it's actually gotten a bit better since now. "

**They walk forward to a door, and something marked with the Avengers logo.**

" And how would you know? " retorted Tony, almost pouting now. Almost.

" Miss Rushman was a very perceptive woman. " replied Natasha with ease, smiling.

Tony pouted.

**_Tony_ ** **points at** **_Peter_ **

**Tony: I was wrong about you. With a little more mentoring, you'll be a real asset to the team.**

Everyone's smiles instantly grew a bit more fixed at that comment. He couldn't mean..

**Peter: T..to the team?**

**Tony: Yeah, anyway-**

**He points a finger at the door.**

**Tony: There's about 50 reporters behind that door, real ones, not bloggers-**

" I do not understand. " started Thor. " By 'team' does Stark mean this team?"

" I very well hope not. " replied Bruce, who like the rest of them were throwing looks at Tony.

**He taps on his wristwatch, and the thing marked with the logo to reveal the Iron spider suit.**

" Hey, before you throw me all those looks, we don't even know if I made that decision! I mean, even if we're letting a fourteen somthing kid in the Avengers, which I really doubt-

**Tony: When you're ready, I want you to put that on.**

_**Tony** _ **walks around** _**Peter,** _ **finally letting go of him.**

" But you're agreeing to it." said Steve, with a stern look on his face, smile now gone.

" Speaking of agreement, where are we, not _not_ agreeing to it? Is this a game we're playing? Something to stop the purple guy? " said Clint. That remark made everybody think. Letting a kid into the Avengers, and telling the world about it was not what Tony could do alone... That made everyone wonder. Why were they agreeing to this?

**Tony: And I'll introduce the world the newest official member of the Avengers-** **_Spiderman._ **

**_Peter_ ** **starts to say something, but ends up only being able to stutter, his face full of glee.**

So they were letting the kid in. _Will we really turn that desperate?_ thought Steve. He, at least not now, will never allow this to happen.. Even if this wasn't serious,

**Tony: Yeah- give that a look.**

**Close up on the new suit.**

" And to top it all off nicely, you're really giving him a suit." stated Clint. " I sure hope he's more responsible than you are."

"If somebody gave you a suit at that age, I don't think SI would've survived." agreed Natasha,smirking at Tony. " You would be too busy paying for reparations."

"Okay, number one- you don't know that. And number two-

**Tony: So after the press conference, Happy will show you your room**

"Your 'number one' is already false, so objection overruled." Natasha retorted, without even looking at him.

" But because it's true that technically 'don't know that' the objection overrulation is overruled. If that's even a word. I mean, well-

Everybody now chose to ignore him and reverted their attention to the screen.

**_Peter_ ** **looks at the suit in awe until his face falls, just a little bit.**

_Why is his face that way?_ Thought Bruce. _All excited then suddenly feeling down now?_ He wasn't the only one noticing the change. The spy duo narrowed their eyes at the screen, and Thor looked a bit bewildered. _Is he disappointed by something? Or is it something else?_ Thought Steve.

**Tony: Where was it,was is next to Vision?**

**Happy: Yeah, Vision's not big on doors.**

**Tony: It's funny**

**Happy: Or walls.**

"Who's Vision?" asked Bruce. It wasn't a serious question, more of just a passing remark, but Natasha mentally filed the question for later. _A being that can pass doors, and even other solid objects. Named Vision._

_**Tony** _ **sighs.**

**Tony: You'll fit right in.**

_**Peter** _ **looks conflicted for a moment then turns to** **_Tony._ **

**Peter: Thank you ... but I'm good.**

" So he _is_ responsible. That's a relief." said Steve.

**Tony: You're good? How are you good?**

**Peter: Well.. I mean, I'd rather just stay on the ground for a little while, Friendly neighborhood Spiderman - somebody's gotta look after the little guys.**

" And you did not expect that." said Natasha, slowly moving her lips. " I don't know if I should be surprised. "

**_Tony_ ** **takes off his sunglasses.**

**Tony: You're turning me down? You'd better think about this- look at that.**

**He points to the suit**

**Tony: - look at me.**

" Tony, you really shouldn't be that surprised. I don't know how famous and idolized we're going to get, but even if we're like the Beatles, letting someone in would be asking them to risk their lives. " said Bruce in a half nervous- half amused voice.

Tony looked really annoyed by now.

" Friendly reminder that I didn't do any of this yet? Weren't we talking about changing futures? ''

**_Peter_ ** **turns his head accordingly.**

**Tony: Last chance, yes or no.**

**_Peter_ ** **answers immediately.**

**Peter: No.**

"Here comes the absolute rejection." said Natasha. " And about futures- I thought you were the one that said we had to be careful about messing with time. I don't see any reason to change this moment. "

**Tony: Okay. It's a kind of working class- spring steamed working class hero vibe of the day. Happy will take you home.**

**Happy: Will you wait in the car?**

**_Peter_ ** **holds out his hand.**

" You're pretending to be okay. " said Steve. It was a statememt, not a question.

" Please stop attacking me?" said Tony, giving up at this point.

**Peter: Thank you mr. Stark.**

**Tony: Yes, mr. Parker.**

**_Tony_ ** **grabs** **_Peter's_ ** **had and shakes it.**

**Tony: Very well.**

" Again, pretending. "

_**Peter** _ **smiles as he looks at the camera, claps his hands together, he walks away, almost skipping, then turns around to look at** **_Tony_ **

**Peter: That was a test, right? There's nobody back there?**

" Okay, so the reason he declined was because he thought it was a test? I think I'll have to cancel my remark about him being responsible. " said Clint.

" I don't know ... Even if he did thino this was a test, it means he thought that was the right thing to do." said Steve.

**Tony: Yes, you passed. Alright, skidaddle there young..**

" Responsible or not, he's definitely not that perceptive." said Natasha.

**Peter: Thank you , thank you!**

**Tony:..buck (*** _I actually have no idea what he said so if anybody knows.._ )

" Skidaddle?" said Bruce.

" I didn't do this yet? " said Tony, weakly.

**Happy: I told you he's a good kid**

_**Tony** _ **shrugs, holding his hands up, then clapping them together.**

**The door opens to reveal** **_Pepper_ ** **and the 50 reporters.**

" Come to think about it, what are you going to tell them? 50 reporters, do you have anything to tell them?" Bruce wondered out loud.

**Pepper: Where's the kid?**

**Happy: He left.**

**Pepper: Everybody's waiting!**

**Tony: You know when he made a really mature choice- just surprised the heck out of both of us?**

" I don't think excuses are going to work on Pepper." said Natasha.

_**Pepper** _ **flashes a disbelieving look.**

**Pepper: Did you guys screw this up?**

" Yes, they did. Is it that surprising?" said Clint.

**Tony: He just told the kid to go wait in the car.**

**Pepper: Are you kidding me?! I have a room full of people in there waiting for some big announcement, what am I going to tell them?**

**Tony: Think of something.. how about...um.. Happy, you still got that ring?**

" Wait.. a ring? " said Bruce. " Tony you're not going to.."

**Happy: Do I.. um.. the engagement.. are you kidding?**

**_Happy_ ** **reaches for his pockets.**

**Happy: I've been carrying this since 2008.**

**He takes out a ring.**

" He is. " said Steve. " You really are proposing just for a press conference. "

" Actually, because he's been carrying that ring around since 2008, I think he didn't have the courage untill then. " smirked Natasha. " Some playboy."

**Tony: Okay?**

" No, everthing is _not_ okay.. I am not ready for this.. this..." Tony stutterd, lost for words for once.

" Well he said 2008. That means you've already been thinking about this for four years. surely you must have thought about this for time enough." assured Bruce.

**Pepper: I think I can think of something better** **than that.**

" I highly doubt that. He's going to pay for that poor excuse of a proposal soon enough. " chuckled Clint.

**Tony: But it'll buy us some time.**

**_Pepper_** **walks closer and kisses** **Tony.**

" Wait. As in something better, does she mean.. " said Bruce.

" It seems that Stark is joining the Lady.." Thor directed his gaze at Natasha.

" Pepper. Pepper Potts" Natasha said, answering Thor's unspoken question.

" Pepper in marriage. Or should I say, The Lady is taking Stark as her husband. Whichever way, the lady surely had the lead- congratulations. " Chuckled Thor.

**Tony(in a muffled voice): Like we need some time...**

**_Pepper_ ** **breaks the kiss and walks towards the door**

**Pepper: I can't believe you had that thing in your pocket.**

" .. I can't either.." mumbled Tony.

**Tony: Can I get the door for you hon?**

**Pepper: Yeah yeah yeah..**

**_Tony_ ** **follows Pepper, only turning to catch the ring thrown by** _**Happy.** _

**Cut to** **_Peter_ ** **walking out of the building while smiling.**

The video ended there. The Avengers had mixed feelings. They were relieved that this wasn't just more bad news, but a tiny bit disappointed that it wasn't informative enough. However, their thoughts were cut off by Jarvis' alarm, telling them it was almost time for Thor's departure, and they had to get ready.


	6. History of Asgard

A/N

sorry for the lateness, my exams ended two days ago, and I only had two days to write this, and excuse me again for this short AN as I have to go see Doctor who live!

ㅡ

It didn't take much time for the Avengers to gather round the screen. The six of them staring at a Starkpad propped up on the hood of a car must have been a strange sight sight, but the Avengers really couldn't care less at that point.

**Korg and the gladiators walk up to the escape ship in the sakkarian armory.**

**Korg: There she is. Our ticket out of here.**

So rock aliens _do_ exist. Noted Clint. Nobody had much thoughts for this scene before it hit them at nearly the same time.

_The refugee ship._

everyone felt themselves paying more and more attention. not that they had not been that way before, but they all felt each other lean closer to the screen.

**KORG picks up the switch of the obedience disk.**

**Korg: Hey, what's this?**

**Korg presses it, and a sigh is heard from below**

**Loki: Thank you.**

Several eyebrows instantly went up at this.

_Loki?_ while he didn't know what Loki's verdict would be, but Thor had a very good guess. His mother was convincing the Allfather against Loki's death penalty, so it would most likely end up in a lifetime sentence, or at least a sentence long enough to see the influence of age on his face. But this Loki looked as young as ever.. and what were those clothes? It was something Loki would _never_ wear! And did this mean Loki had something to do with the refugee situation?

Natasha had another reason to be startled. _Politeness?_ From what she had gathered from New York, this was a arrogant prince who had considered 'midagardians' as a lower class- that being his excuse to rule. Was it only just an excuse he made? But his emotions had seemed genuine. She didn't know about the other aliens who were shown right now, but she had a pretty good guess they weren't exactly royalty. Out of habit perhaps?

**Korg: Hey man, we're about to jump on that gigantic spaceship- you wanna come?**

**Loki: Well- you do seem like you're in desperate need of leadership.**

**Korg: Why, thank you.**

_Different again._ Noted Natasha. Although this was the future, this was too much of a change... but the scene was changing, and she made a mental note to think about it later.

**Scene changes to the commodore flying between some debris in a wormhole. The inside of it is shown, showing Bruce,Thor and Valkyrie.**

"What?" Bruce shouted out in spite of himself. "W..why..?"

everyone just shook their heads. It just wasn't enough information to make anything out yet.

**Valkyrie: Here we go-**

**Crashes into debris.**

**Valkyrie: Shit.**

**The commodore flies into a bright light, then the scene changes into the back of Skurge's head.**

**Skurge: Asgardians-! some misguided soul has stolen the Bifrost sword. Tell us where it is, or there will be consequences-**

_Something's off.._ thought Steve. The way he talked, wasn't Asgard a society that ran on honor? Steve couldn't quite place it, but _something_ was definitley wrong.

**Camera turns to** **Hela, with Fenris behind her.**

**Skurge: bad ones.**

"Okay, what?" Tony said, evidently taken aback. _A giant wolf. With a scary green lady. What?_

Thor's brow started creasing, deepening by the second. Had somebody taken over Asgard? A military coup? He only shook his head at Tony's question, and they continued to stare at the screen.

**The camera shows the crowd, but nobody comes forward.**

A strange lack of people- wasn't Asgard a entire planet? or were they all killed in whatever mess was going on? Clint shuddered at the idea, and couldn't help but think about the first video they had seen.

Thor was thinking the same thing. It was now clear that this was the reason the Asgardians fled. But how had Asgard's army fallen? Surely one person couldn't have..could she?

**Skurge: Well..?**

**Hela decends the stairs and points to the crowd.**

**Hela: You.**

**The crowd screams and backs away as a woman is dragged forward. The woman is thrown in front of Skurge. Skurge hesitates.**

Steve couldn't help but flinch. Whoever this was, this was putting the crowd into a very difficult moral test... and at the same time, putting him into one too. Because at that moment, he didn't know what to choose. Even if it wasn't his choice, this still made him uncomfortable.

**Hela: Well, executioner?**

**Skurge lifts his axe.**

**Random man: Wait!**

**Random man walks to the front of the crowd.**

**Random man: I know where the sword is.**

Tony gulped. What next? He still couldn't grasp the significance of what they were finding, but it was obvious it was some kind of turning point. The Bifrost..it was some kind of einstein rosier bridge, and maybe the sword was the key? If that were so, it meant that she was going out.. to god knows where..

**Scene changes to the commodore again. The commodore flies out of the portal, flying towards Asgard. The ship is shown flying over the Bifrost before cutting to the inside of the ship.**

**Valkyrie: I never thought I'd be back here.**

**Bruce: I thought it would be a lot nicer- I mean, not that it's not nice, it's just - it's on fire.**

**The commodore shows a hologram of the Asgardian mountains, with red dots clustered at the top and a single green dot climbing up.**

**Valkyrie: Here, up on the mountains. Heat signatures. People clustered together, she's coming for them.**

So that explained the lack of people. Everyone, almost everyone had already escaped... thought Clint.

So that was the consequence of telling. Thought Steve, turning into a grim look. He really hoped that Thor would interfere, successfully.

**Thor: If you drop me off at the palace,and I'll lure her away.**

**Valkyrie: You'll get yourself killed-**

**Thor: The people trapped down there is all that matters. While I'm dealing with Hela, I need you to help get everyone off Asgard.**

One person. Against the strongest person he knew. And she was enough to get him killed. Loki suddenly started to feel almost harmless to Tony. How exactly strong was the rest of the universe? Did earth even stand a chance?

**Bruce: How are we supposed to do that?**

**Thor: I have a man.**

**Scene changes to the hideout.**

**Heimdall: Asgard!**

**The crowd turns to him**

Thor mentally cringed at how few people were left. Yes that was a lot of people to be gathered together at once, but if that was what was left of his people, that meant all the soldiers had indeed gone to the other side- his friends being one of them- he realized. Thor gritted his teeth, and was slightly thankful to have this bit of knowledge beforehand. At least now, it could be stopped.

**Heimdall: She's here.**

**Hela and Skurge watches the hideout door across a crevice. Scene changes to Thor hoisting a gun on the commodore.**

**Thor: Now, this ship has a gun.**

**Valkyrie: I'll take it from here.**

**Thor hands Valkyrie a bundle of clothes.**

**Thor: I found this in the armory.**

**Thor: good luck.**

**Valkyrie ascends to the commodore.**

**Valkyrie: Your majesty!**

**Valkyrie: Don't die - you know what I mean?**

"One question- who is that? "

"No idea..but judging by the clothes.." Thor didn't get to finish the sentence, as the scene changed.

**The commodore flies away, leaving Thor alone on the palace balcony.**

**Show Thor's feet waking towards the throne, stopping at the debris of the mural on the ceiling. He picks up the piece with his face on it, then looks up to see the picture of Hela holding mjolnir.**

Thor felt his jaw drop. Tony snapped his head to look at Thor, Steve felt his eyes widen, and Natasha had an unreadable look on her face. But the shock was however only just starting.

**Cut to Hela shooting metal spears at the hideout door, only to find it empty. Cut again to Thor sitting on the throne, striking Gungnir on the floor three times, making a sound that reaches Hela.**

**Scene changes to Hela walking up to the throne.**

**Thor: Sister.**

"Are all your siblings villains? " Tony made an attempt at a joke, but Thor was already too shocked to care.

**Hela: You're still alive-**

**Thor: I love what you've done with the place.**

**Thor glances up to the ceiling.**

**Thor: Redecorated, I see.**

**Hela: It seems that father's solution to every problem was to cover it up.**

**Thor: Or cast it out.**

"Why the hell are you so fucking calm?" muttered Tony.

Natasha had noticed it too. This Thor, the one they were watching seemed more...well..grown up. Although more lighter, more sarcastic, this version looked more mature than the serious version they knew.

_**Hela's** _ **face darkens.**

**Thor: Told you you were worthy, said the same thing to me.**

**Hela: You see -you never knew him, not at his best. Odin and I drowned entire civilizations in blood and tears-**

**Camera angle changes, observing from the back of the throne.**

**Hela: Where do you think all this gold came from?**

Thor was slightly shaking by this point. what the screen was saying wasn't fully processing yet, but what had was slowly making him into a mix of feelings. And the calmness of the future-him wasn't really helping. What had he experienced, had seen to be so composed? And the way he talked about how he was worthy- Thor subconsciously made his grip on the hammer tighter.

**Close up to** **_Hela_ **

**Hela: and then, one day ,he decides to be a benevolent king. To foster peace, to protect life... To have** **_you._ **

**Thor: I understand why you're angry. You** **_are_ ** **my sister and technically you have the claim to the throne, believe me, I would love for somebody else to rule, but it can't be you- you're just... the worst.**

_Again with that composure._ Natasha now reverted her thoughts back to Loki. What really had happened? Bruce was still alive and running, so it couldn't be that far into the future. Something had happened.

Meanwhile, Hela's words made Thor turn his thoughts in another direction. How did he even have a long-lost sister.. how had he never known about this part of Asgardian history..?

**Hela: Okay, get up.**

**_Hela_ ** **engages in her helmet.**

**Hela: You're in my seat.**

_**Thor** _ **climbs down.**

**Thor: Father once told me a wise man never seeks out war-**

**Hela: But must always be ready for it!**

_Did that line also have a double meaning?_ Wondered Thor. Everything he had believed in was crumbling in these short minutes. A part of him was trying to tell himself that this could be a lie, but he knew only to well that it was true, the mural on the ceiling only adding to this fact.

_**Thor** _ **and** **_Hela_ ** **charge towards each other, and the scene changes to the full shot of Asgard, then focuses on the Bifrost. The Asgardians led by Heimdall are hurrying toward the portal, when a low growl is heard through the fog, then reveals Fenris.**

**Heimdall: Get back!**

**The Asgardians screams they back away. The commodore emerges from the fog, shooting at Fenris. The retreating Asgardians are blocked by the skeleton army, led by** **_Skurge._ **

_These are ordinairy people-_ Steve realized. And they were now blocked both ways. getting ready for a massacre. _As if this situation could get worse._

**Cut to** **_Thor_ ** **and** **_Hela_ ** **fighting in the throne room.**

**Hela: To be honest, I expected more.**

_**Hela** _ **throws** **_Thor_ ** **to the ground.**

**Changes to the Bifrost.**

**Skurge: Heimdall!**

_**Heimdall** _ **turns**

**Skurge: The sword.**

At least he knew the key was in safe hands. Thor was actually struggling to stay up at this point. How, how could this possibly stopped when the situation was right in front of them? Messing with time or no, this _had_ to be stopped.

**The skeleton army charges, and the scene changes to the throne room again.**

**Hela: Here's the difference between us.**

_**Thor** _ **is pinned against a pillar.**

**Hela: I'm Odin's firstborn, the rightful heir, and the savior of Asgard, and you, are nothing.**

**_Thor_ ** **gets tossed aside again. He stands back up and fights back, but is forced down on his knees by** **_Hela._ **

**Hela: So simple- even a blind man could see it.**

_**Hela** _ **lashes out at** **_Thor's_ ** **face, and when he turns, he's missing an eye.**

Tony couldn't help but grimace. There was the explanation to why he was missing an eye. He wasn't exactly sure he wanted to know.

_"Nothing..._ well that's up to debate. " remarked Clint, trying to break the tension. Surprisingly Thor _did_ relax, although the overall tension didn't die down.

**Hela: Now you remind me of dad.**

**Turn to the Bifrost again, there is full fledged battle going on. Valkyrie keeps shooting at Fenris**

**Valkyrie: That stupid dog won't die!**

Bruce let out a snort at this unexpected comic relief, but it was a half-fledged one, due to his worry about the situation. He knew that he would have to use the Hulk- and the mere thought of it made the 'other guy' inside of him stir.

**Fenris charges at the asgardians, and** **_Bruce_ ** **stands up from the drivers seat.**

**Bruce: Everything is going to be alright now, I got this. You wanted to know who I am?**

**Valkyrie: What the hell are you talking about?**

**Bruce: You'll see.**

**_Bruce_ ** **falls from the commodore, in front of Fenris. He doesn't change into the** **_Hulk_ ** **, and stays still. Fenris sniffs him and resumes charging.**

If this were a movie to the Avengers, they would have laughed, but concern and confusion came first for them.

_Falling was enough to awaken him before..why not now..?_ wondered Natasha. _Was there a problem?_ Or was it just that Bruce had better control?

**Then Fenris is grabbed by the behind by the newly awakened** _**Hulk.** _ **They quarrel for a moment before taking the fight into the water.** **_Valkyrie_ ** **throws an disbelieving look.**

Tony let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. _One down, an army to go. Wow that seems hopeful._

**Turn to** **_Hela_ ** **and** **_Thor_ ** **again.** _**Hela** _ **drags** **_Thor_ ** **to the balcony, forcing him to see the Bifrost.**

**Hela: You see? No one's going anywhere. I'll get that sword even if I have to kill every single one of you to do it.**

Steve grimaced. He really couldn't see a way out of this situation. _But they'll survive._ he reminded himself. _You know, to get killed later.._

**The flurry of action is still going on at the Bifrost, and** _**Heimdall** _ **gets knocked down.**

"No-!" Thor actually shouted out this time. Not him, not the last-

**He is about to be struck by a skeleton soldier when** **_Korg_ ** **shoots it from behind.**

Everyone blinked. Then faintly remembered seeing him at the very start. everyone's brains were working very slowly, still processing what they had seen.

**Korg: Hey man,**

**_Heimdall_ ** **looks up at** **_Korg_ ** **, dazed.**

**Korg: I'm Korg, this is miek, we're going to jump on that spaceship and get out of here, wanna come?**

Natasha was the first one to get back to her senses. She didn't know what had gotten into her, but she smiled- then even let out a small laugh.

_**Heimdall** _ **turns his head to the thick fog, where a dark silhouette is starting to appear.**

**Loki: Your savior is here!**

And with Thor starting the relay by laughing-quite loudly too- followed by Tony, and even to Clint- who really couldn't be considered as a Loki fan.

_**Thor** _ **laughs from the balcony.** _**Hela** _ **stabs him from the back.** _**Loki** _ **walks down from the spaceship**

**Loki: Did you miss me?**

Soon enough, they were all laughing hysterically, (minus the agents) gathered around the bonnet of the car. It wasn't until Natasha reminded them they had less then five minutes to get ready did they hastily moved to get the tesseract ready, and that meant Thor didn't have enough time to think anything through before arriving at the golden gates of Asgard.


	7. The shadow of light

 

Thor's first instinct when he arrived at the golden gates of Asgard was to charge right into the throne room or wherever else his father was and demand answers. And if it weren't for Heimdall who, despite the repairs on the rainbow bridge were not yet finished, was standing guard.

" I have been watching you on Midgard, " remarked Heimdall as Thor was just about to storm past him.

Thor stopped in his tracks and stayed still for a moment, perhaps longer then he should have.

" And?"

" Whatever your actions are from now, keep in mind that trying to run from fate only ensures it. However questionable the righteousness of the Allfathers rule may be, he is the only reason the nine realms are now at peace. " his tone was still calm as ever, but his all-knowing amber eyes seemed to glint with a silent warning.

Thor slowly turned to where the watchman stood, obviously not fazed by Heimdall's gaze. His eyes were too with a warning, but unlike the watchman, Thor's warning was far from silent.

" Did you know? "

It was not a question, but a demand. The two locked eyes and stayed in silence for what seemed like millennia. In usual circumstances, the god of thunder would not have been equal to such an all-knowing gaze. It was not because he was suddenly wiser, but rather due to the fact his emotions overwhelming even him, that he was not letting his rage be made apparent.

" I will ask you only one more time," Thor growled, not breaking eye contact for a second, "Did. You. Know? "

"The answer to the question will differ depending on what you are asking, my prince. " Heimdall spoke in the same indiffrent manner, still unreadable, still calm. This only did to anger Thor further, however. Thor stepped closer to the amber-eyed watchman in a single stride, getting so close that their noses were mere centimeters before touching and spoke in such a low voice that it came out in a near whisper.

"You know exactly what I mean. I demand- "

"What you demand is beyond what you understand. If it would answer your query, all I know is none is without fault and what had to be done to avoid the worst. Now, I believe you have your brother to take care of? " There was a short silence and finally, there was a gruff "of course" from Thor before he grabbed hold of his brother and pulled him towards the Bifrost bridge.

Word of the return of the crown prince, although the journey was technically supposed to be a secret, had now spread across Asgard. By the time the brothers had barely made it across the bridge and into the city, people had started to gather, some blatantly staring, some trying to be subtle, amd most taken aback by the deadly manner of not only the younger, but both the princes. Thor sighed at the onlookers then proceeded to wrap a firm arm around his brother's waist. Loki struggled as if in protest, but with an even tighter grip, Thor hoisted mjolner into the sky, flying off with Loki dangling beside him. The golden city, that looked no less majestic from up high, flashed beneath them. Thor could not help but wonder how much of it was made by wronging others...

When The thunder god finally landed in front of the palace, The Enhenjer offered a quick bow to Thor before immediately got hold of Loki, leading him to... wherever. Loki followed without protest, not sparing a glance in his brothers direction, leaving Thor alone in the wide and empty hall.

ㅡ

The Enhenjer gaurds had not brought him into a holding cell as he had expected, but instead into a secure bedroom. Loki collapsed onto the bed and closed his eyes. Although the affect of the scepter was fading from him, his original resentment lingered, brewing away, moment after moment.

He realized now that the scepter had indeed poisoned his mind. Ruling Midgard was never what he had wanted. It was showing Odin was _wrong_ somehow because he could not stand knowing the fact that the person who had reduced him into a... pitiful state would forever stand high and mighty.

But the void had happened, showing him horrers that he doubted he would ever recover from. Thanos had easily tricked, _tortured_ his fragile state of mind into believing that he somehow wanted to invade Midgard. _Midgard_ of all places. It really should have been laughable.

He sighed and opened his eyes again. Might as well enjoy the bed while he still had it. The chains that encircled his neck and waist chafed uncomfortably, the loose ends tied to the walls making a sound every time he so much as breathed. At least the muzzle was off, bit it was not like he had anyone to talk to.

He let out yet another deep sigh and he found his idle mind drift away, slowly relaxing before- Loki gave an involuntary shudder at the idea, causing the suspended chains to clank violently. The sounds, although there was far too much furniture in the room for it to have properly echoed, seemed to vibrate all around the room. The trickster closed his eyes and grabbed firmly onto the sheets beneath him.

_You will beg for something as sweet as pain.._

No. this was just a memory, nothing tjat could harm him now. A simple fragment of something -

_Pain. He had thought he had known pain. All those were merely a scrape on the knee compared to what this was._

"No." he finally uttered, panting now. _Think of something else, anything else.._

A few moments of silence passed as his harsh breathing eventually slowed down to the pace of normalacy. After that, only silence filled both the room, and his mind. Because no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't _think_ anything without being reminded. So Loki instead concentrated his attention to the ceiling, completely and utterly _thoughtless._

ㅡ

Because this was not a official mission, and because the nature of his quest involved capturing his own brother, there was no expected celebration in any way. Thor really couldn't care less. His emotions were now in a turmoil, and yet... he was at a complete loss of what to do. He did not even know what he wanted fixing, nor could ask the questions he wanted the answers to.

The library had seemed like a good place to start, but he had soon found out that this kind of information was not somthing you found in your average history book, most of them not even having a chapter on his father's rule.. Why he had never found that suspicious, he would never know. And Thor had a feeling that not many other people on Asgard _would_ think this as something worth investigating.. maybe few of the scholars and historians, but if they had sworn an oath of silence- then it struck him. _Loki_. He would know, maybe not the whole story, maybe not even half of it, but if there was someone who certainly would have held this suspicious, it was him.

He stood up from his seat, leaving the book he was reading sprawled on the long tables, and about to demand answers to a person he finally _could_ -

" My friend, why the face? " Frandral was smiling and standing in the doorway. " I would rather think that would be obvious, is it not?" Frandral made a sad smile at his reply, but his tone of voice did nothing to betray his emotions. " Well, even if that is so, It does not explain why you are in the library which, if my memory is correct, you had deemed unfit for an _true_ warrior?" Thor, of course could not come up with a direct answer. There was a moment's silence. Frandral looked intently at Thor for a moment, then inclined his head as if in resingnment. " We were waiting for you, but if you are not up for conversation just yet, I will tell them so. " Thor only nodded in thanks, hurrying out of the Library, walking past Frandral, who seemed to be throwing him a.. strange look.

ㅡ

_Loki._ He had to find Loki. He doubted that the gaurds would let them converse, but he would think about that when he found him. Loki had not been taken to the holding cells as Thor had expected, forcing him to check every single bedroom in the large palace. He had expected the search to be easy, because he would only have to find the room with people guarding the entrance, but two hours and a destroyed tapestry later, it was evident that Wherever Loki was, the place was gaurded by magic, not people. There was not enough time to search the entire palace again, the trial would already had begun by now.. Thor gritted his teeth and turned his steps towards the throne room. Going with his original plan of demanding answers seemed like a much better option the prying away like this.

ㅡ

_Thor._ what was that idiotic oaf _doing_ here? He had just _1\. Gotten disowned_ and _2\. sentenced_ _to life - imprisonment_ , and it was quite stating the obvious to say he was not especially delighted to see that face, not willing to deal with yet another variable. The golden boy's hostility had seemed to have grown somehow. Was he still angry at him? Was going to express them _now? here?_ That kind of stupidity did seem well in character.

" Father. "

"My son, this is not a good - "

"Oh, I quite think it the perfect time, father. " Thor growled, not unlike the time he had rashly called his father an old man and a fool... acting under the confidence that he wouldn't be exiled again perhaps?

"Tell me," continued Thor, "Who is the godess of death?"

Odin betrayed no emotion. " There _is_ no godess of death, not on Asgard."

At that, Thor hoisted mjolner and swung it to the mural adorning the ceiling. It broke through the entire width of it, making a gaping hole in the ceiling. Before anyone could protest, the hammer zoomed back, making the crust of the ceiling fall. The Enhenjer holding the end of Loki's chains quickly moved to the side, making Loki fall, entangled in chains. However, the scene now opened above them was enough to make Loki not to care.

There was a deadly silence, before Loki finally breathed,shouted out from under the chains.

" Hypocrite-!"


End file.
